Restaurant Gastrognome — Restaurant in Idyllwild-Pine Cove

Went here on a Monday, 19July21 for lunch w/3 other ppl. Got there a few minutes before noon, after making the 1 hour drive, over a mile up the mountain from Palm Springs, and actually had to wait 10 to 15 minutes to be seated (behind 3 or 4 other small groups of ppl in line at the outdoors host station), while the wait staff, some frantically others not so much, finished wiping down & setting up the outside dining patio area; tables, chairs, umbrellas, wait/service station, etc. Their opening time, every day they are open, is 12:00p, so maybe that's when the wait staff arrives as well? Not sure, but found it slightly odd that we had to wait to be seated, which btw was not an issue for me, but my gf's dad was suddenly not feeling well, had to find a shaded area around the corner to get out of the sun and leaned against a wall where he was able to collect himself. Anyway, besides that bit of unexpected experience, our drinks and food were just fine and our waiter was friendly, apologetic, and offered great advice & recommendations on both food and drinks. Oh and we did sit outside... the weather was great, right around 80°F, slight breeze, which was just fantastic considering it was 40° cooler than where we were just an hour prior. (Palm Springs in late July is no joke, and I'm a N'awlins boy, used to the heat & humidity, but 121°F w/low humidity is still 121... like on 🔥 hot). I'd definitely try this place again, next time I go to PS... Interested in having...

My wife and I ate here for lunch. We both had french onion soup. She had caesar salad and I had the jalepeno ham sandwich.

As for atmosphere it is decently nice though the carpet and building are very old which is ok. It is not fresh inside. 3 stars.

Service was excellent. The staff payed very good attention to us with drinks and fresh bread and our food was served promptly. 4.5 stars.

As for the food their bread was warm and fresh and well flavored. It was not too dense or flaky. 4 stars for the bread. The French onion soup was good. The broth had great tones of wine and beef though a little lacking on the onion flavor. 4 starts for the soup. The caesar salad was fresh and not too heavily dressed. The dressing was a great consistency and not runny or too thick. It held well to the salad. Some of the croutons were burned and the parmesan was overdone. 3.5 stars. Finally for the sandwich... it was advertised with fresh avocado, spinach and chipotle aoli. That's spinach, and chipotle aoli with the Oxford comma. My sandwich aoli had tobasco and no chipotle. The spinach and tomatos were wilted and the jalepenos had valiantly been attempted to be roasted. However there was no jalepeno flavor. Or chipotle flavor. Sadly the sandwich with its dry stale rye bread and all soft tobasco flavored fillings was lacking for me. The fries were limp but had decent flavor. 2.5 starts for the sandwich.

Overall good place for French onion soup. Also looks like they have a...

I have to begin with food, It was amazing so darn tasty and full of flavor all cooked perfectly the steak in one, and the fish and shrimp in the other; the shrimp was perfectly cooked usually in pastas I feel the shrimp is always overcooked not this time! Also the taste was so different from any other pastas I've ever had. The drinks were so tasty I normally just have one beer or a glass of wine; I'll have a small taste of everything and they are always too sweet or strong for me not this time both drinks were amazing martini and margarita were perfect! Atmosphere is very nice homey and cozy with nice fireplace very clean and attractive lil place, bathroom was nice and clean! The only thing I didn't love was that the employees did not have a very good attitude, service was good but attitudes were just not welcoming or nice at all none of them, it was almost a lil strange. Had very dry personalities not just with us but, with all customers. They were not that busy to have those attitudes and that goes a long way for me! I would love to go eat here again for their amazing food and drinks but hard to think I have to deal with salty...